The bill would allow workers to receive Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits while caring for seriously ill grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and parents-in-law. California’s PFL program, which is funded entirely by employee payroll deductions, was the first in the nation to provide partial pay to workers taking time off to care for seriously ill family members or to bond with new children. However, the law only covers leave to care for a parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic partner. See the complete press release.

LAS-ELC Senior Staff Attorney Sharon Terman said, “Workers in California contribute a portion of every paycheck to the Paid Family Leave program. Yet even when a close relative faces a life-threatening illness, many workers cannot access the program because their relatives are excluded under current law. It creates instability for families and communities when workers are faced with the impossible choice of maintaining an income or being there to care for a loved one in a medical crisis.”